Texts from my son during the Arapahoe shooting

Texts from my son during the Arapahoe shooting

I’ll have much, much more to say on this as I become cognizant of just what this has done to me, but I thought some people might be interested in the string of texts my son Ian and I sent back and forth during the Arapahoe shooting on Friday. I’ve Photoshopped it into one long screen so it’s easier to read.

Thank you for sharing. Excuse any type-o’s as I’m writing through tears. This says so much about parents, about fathers, about our messed-up country. My kids are young and I worry every day about the near future when they’re teens. You give me hope.

Yes, he’s type-1 diabetic and has been since he was 5. I realized after I had him home that I could have skipped the entire line to get to him sooner, using the diabetes and lack of test strips as a reason but I honestly didn’t even think of it. I was just so happy he was safe and I was trying to process everything that had been happening.

This is my biggest fear as well. My local school has been on lock down a couple of times for various events, and two of my children are also Type-1 Diabetic. I am sure the stress of this situation did not help his blood sugar levels.

I graduated from AHS in 93. Such a tragedy at a great school. But there’s upside. As long as there are parents like you Kevin, there’s far more goodness and hope… Still a proud AHS Warrior after all these years.

I am so impressed with the wisdom you showed in not panicking, and how sensitive of your boy to realise you needed to know everything he knew. I am so sorry you had this experience. I have included a link at the bottom of this comment to the story of what happened to my family on September 11, 2001, in New York City. Sometimes just writing things out completely can help so much with processing. I sincerely wish you a full recovery from this terrible experience. http://www.kristeninlondon.com/news/what-happened-to-us

As a father of two school aged boys..”I’m here and will be here…until I have you”…was beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time..this bourght me to tears. Glad there are men like you Kevin…thanks for sharing.

As many have already stated you are a fantastic father. I am also very proud of your son. To actually send a text every view minutes to let you know he is okay is thoughtful, mature and impressive. i am happy to hear you’re together and safe.

WOW!!! Thank you so much for sharing this. This string of texts makes it very real. It gives the situation a face and a name and a relationship. I’m so happy your son is okay, Kevin. I’ll be interested to hear more from you as your mind attempts to wrap itself around what happened. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from a Michigan mom.

So glad you had a happy ending! This is just such a crazy situation that is happening far too often! Thanks for sharing your story and our prayers are with the school, all the families and the two wounded.

This is a chilling read. I’m very glad your son is OK. My son was also on lockdown after a recent school shooting (at a nearby college)–we didn’t know until everything was over and kids were safe. But still, just being outside not being able to see the kids was incredibly stressful.

The joy of being able to post that picture of the two of you together at the end of the day must have been overwhelming. Grateful you were able to reunite on such a terrible day. Thank you for sharing!

So many onions. This is my worst nightmare. My daughter was in first grade last year when Sandy Hook happened. Having a child go through that is beyond horrifying, Good job keeping it together. He’s lucky to have you as a dad.

Sounds like you’re an awesome and loving dad and you have a great son. There should never be a situation like this…sad. I’m really glad he’s safe and thanks for sharing. I’m going to give my kids extra hugs today.

Thank you Kevin for sharing. It was awesome reading thru the stressful event – I felt as if I was actually in it as well. It was warming to see how well you understood each other – so close – and it all comes down to what a great DAD you are – that showed thru in how calm your son was when faced with this situation. I respect you for your calmness, your understanding and sound mind.

As a parent, I can not imagine what you must have been going through! Thank you for sharing. I am so glad that your boy is okay. What a heartbreaking world that we live in today, where we can not even send our children to school without worrying whether or not they will be okay. I often think of what I would do if something like this were to happen to my family and I hope that I would be as strong as you were, I know you must have been a wreck on the inside. Love the picture of the two of you reunited! Looks like his dad!

You did an incredible job keeping calm and composed. They’ll never be accurate words to describe how sorry I am that you and your son had to go through this, but for what it’s worth I’m sorry and so very glad that he’s well.

Kevin, I’m sure every parent reading this will also well up with tears. I have to take a moment, it is so powerful and touching to read. The love you two have for each other shines through the fear.Thank you for sharing your intimate exchanges. It touches us and lifts us through the tragedy.

Found you through a story on the web. This is heart wrenching and glorious. I have 2 sons and we talk about if something like this should happen. In fact, the school has a program called :Rachel’s Challenge” to address issues like this. Sad that we have to talk about that with our kids. More sad that you had to go through it for real. I am so happy to know that you were reunited with your son and you are both good now. Hug him tight every single day.

I think I was holding my breath the entire time I was reading.
Although I was doing the ugly cry at the same time. I felt the love from you in those texts and the worry. My son, is also Type 1 and on top of all else worrying about his blood sugar must have been so overwhelming. Thank you so much for sharing these texts. Thinking about you and your family as you all struggle with what has happened.

You know, I am not a big fan of ‘selfies’, but the one at the end of your blog warmed my heart. I cannot, nor do I ever want to imagine what it was like for you as a father. Suffice to say, I am really glad that everyone is OK.

Reblogged this on Queer Landia and commented:
If you haven’t heard, there was another school shooting in Colorado last week, the evening before the anniversary of the Sandy Hook tragedy. This is an eerie account of the shooting through the eyes of a parent, texting his son who was at school.

Thank you for sharing this. It is very impactful. As a parent, the texts are hard to read when I project myself into your place. As a human being and an American, I’m sorry our idiocy about guns has put you and your son through this. And so many other families through worse. Best wishes for normalcy from here on in.

My daughter was dx’d with T1 when she was 2. She’s 10 now…this left a lump in my throat. So glad he was okay and diabetes didn’t complicate anything on top of the chaos he was caught in the middle of!!!

I’m so sorry you and your son went through this. I do not know what it is about our culture – other nations (Canada) have guns and yet we don’t see schools regularly on lock down. Happy that he is well.

Your son is diabetic? I’m guessing that’s what you meant by test kit and strips. Our daughter is 16yo Type 1. Having that to worry about on top of lockdown would be beyond the beyond for me. I’m glad you were reunited safely.

This was wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing so we were able to get some insight into how someone must feel in a situation like that. I can only imagine what both you and your son were going through.

I simply don’t have words. God Bless you all. Thank you for sharing. The remarkable calm that you both showed during this while still being able to tell each other so clearly how much you both were loved… amazing.

Sorry, can’t see through the tears. I could feel the fear and emotion in every single word. My biggest fear is something happening to one of my kids. God bless you and your son! He’s lucky to have you!!!

Thank you soo much for sharing. This really gave me chills on my spine and tears in my eyes with anger and joy at the same time. Im sorry you and your son had to go thru this as well as all the students that went thru it. Thank you so much for being the right dad and leading your son 1000% and being there for him. You guys have greatness within you and God bless you. Thank you so much for making me feel how i feel right now.

I don’t know you or your family at all, just saw this on CNN. I wanted to say thank you for being such a great dad to your son. My dad was never there for me and still isn’t. Much respect for men like you!

Thank you for sharing this. My 6 year old is type 1 also and has been since 18 months old. Very proud of you and your son! I am glad diabetes worked well til you had him in your arms. I lived how he kept telling you he was okay

Now that’s it’s all over, – everyone safe and sound, what a great life story. Very touching to most of us who have kids. When you mispelled ‘church’, I could only imagine your fear and anxiety as you typed the text whilst moving as fast as you can to complete the most important mission in your life. We just never know how our day is going to end. Your texts are a touching story as it unfolds to grateful selfies on the couch.

Lucky for us Australians, these type of school shootings are basically unheard of. Our last was from a mentally impaired Hong Kong student over a decade ago.

Glad everyone is home safe! Thanks for writing this….I think I need to have a talk with my sons school……in case of there being a lock down….zach’s meter and supplies are in nurses room! We need to revisit this!

As a 31 year old, I often think “aah parents” because mine as STILL over-protective…but that was truly beautiful. I also think that it is a true testament to you and your son’s relationship that he texted you every five minutes on the dot as promised. Thank you so sharing… beautiful…

Having just traded similar texts with a friend at the Navy Yard, as a parent I cannot imagine the 2+ hours of terror you experienced. Very thankful for your happy ending and for the reminder to tell those around us how much they mean to us.

So happy to hear that your boy made it out safely. Such a sad day living with the daily fear in our heads and hearts about sending our children to school. We once assumed it was the second safest place, the first being home.

Hit close to home to me. One more reason for me to want my 10 year old daughter with Type I to keep her supplies with her instead of in the nurse’s office. So glad you shared this and glad your son is safe and sound.

Thank you for sharing your triumph over this horrid event. I am appalled and heartbroken that our country is so full of violence such as this, and I pray and hope for a way to make these incidents STOP! Thankful your sons school had protocol and this situation was dissolved very quickly, but we shouldn’t have to have protocols for this! I am so discouraged for the state of our once peaceful and beautiful America, now we seem to be entering into accepting these things as norm, hence schools implementing protocols. It makes me sick and terrified for our children. Thank the good Lord that you are obviously an outstanding father and I praise you for raising such a wonderful young man, I pray for healing for you all, and for everyone involved. God bless.

Wow. As an ex-high school teacher, I felt like we were always going through drills to prepare for situations like this. But actually reading through this made me realize there’s no way you can ever be ready to deal with something like a shooting. I’m so glad your son is safe.

Thank you for sharing this with the public. I was moved to tears thinking of my own sons. When you wrote “I’ll be here until I have you”…heart-wrenching and beautiful words. I am looking forward to reading your follow up post once you’ve processed and are able to put words to it all. Thankful your son is safe in his dad’s care.

As a dad of a 16y/o Type 1 kid, I totally appreciated the text about having his kit.
Thankfully never been in the same situation, but in countless others much less serious where I’ve texted “do you have your test kit?”

Thanks for writing this, Kevin. The moment I saw the part about “test strips” I knew we were kindred spirits. My 4-year-old son has type 1 diabetes. I can only imagine the extra level of stress that must’ve put on an already stressful situation. God bless you and your family.
Vince

Thanks for sharing the texts. My niece’s children attend Shepherd of the Hills School, so we heard it was used as a pickup point. We are glad a safe place was available for you to reconnect with each other.

This gives a tiny glimpse into what you must have been feeling. My boy is about the same age, and I cannot imagine the spectrum of emotions you must have had in that 2 1/2 hours. Thank God you had some way to communicate with him.

So thankful your son is okay. This moved me more than anything I have ever seen on FB before. Just the thought of having that text conversation with one of my boys terrifies me. I hope you will be okay too. Thank you for sharing this. Love to you and your family.

Parenting: you’re doing it right. This makes me wonder how I’d react if something like this happened to one of my children. I hope I’d have the presence of mind to respond as you did. I’m glad your son is alright and you were reunited safely.

I was perfectly fine reading it until the end when I saw your picture and it hit me hard.. Too many of these things end the way they shouldn’t. Being a father myself I could not imagine what this had to have been like for you. So glad your son is safe!

Thank you for posting this. I’m so glad your son is safe.
Not that it matters but I went to his school; and my senior year was when Columbine happened. My heart sank when I heard of this happening (I’m currently in Texas, all of my family is there, my niece goes to goddard) I could never imagine how your son felt; and how much worry your had.
Sorry to spill all of my thoughts on your blog, but I wanted to let you know that this made me so happy i cried a little.
Thank you again.

WOW! What an incredible son you have, he must get it from his dad! Thank you for sharing these texts, to see how much you two care and respect each other was just inspiring. To be so calm while there is such panic in your heart is amazing. I’m am truly thankful your son is safe and back with his family.

OMG I couldn’t even imagine, my oldest 3 children are all grown but I have a special needs 7 year old Autistic Son you kept your cool better than I did just reading the texts. I live in Puna Hawaii I didn’t seem to see this on the news you must have wanted to BUST in the school and grab your son causing all kinds of an unorganized mess. Glad u didn’t, glad u kept your cool SUPER GLAD TO SEE THE PIC OF YOU AND YOUR BOY RELAXING AND ENJOYING EACHOTHER. SURE MAKE ONE THINK…. JUST HOW LUCKY YOU TWO ARE. PEACE AND LOVE TO YOU BOTH I AM GOING TO GO HUG MY BOY RIGHT NOW.

Thank you for sharing this string of texts. I welled up with tears at your response to your son telling you he was sorry. I had a similar chain of texts with my daughter when I found out her school was on lock down, not by the school, but by the news. Fortunately, no one was hurt in that instance. I love how teens always seem so nonchalant in their text responses “yeah” but clearly he appreciated your being there to communicate with him. I especially love that Ian is wearing a Ramones shirt in the picture – making me positive that you are an AWESOME dad!